Anniversary Eighteen

Hazy amber. Light spicy rye on the nose. Big and thick, somewhat syrupy. Again, a bit of rye character comes through. Pretty subtle beer for a strong ale. Interesting anyway.

Big Hunt, DC tap pint ($9): Pours a reddish color with an off-white head (mine was filled nearly to the top, so I didn’t really see too much of it). The aroma is more malt heavy than most saisons; a bunch of hops are present, along with some dirty Belgian yeast. I found the taste of this to be slightly disappointing. It was good and interesting, but it didn’t really encourage me to continue drinking. Kind of grassy taste with a lot of herbal qualities that I am not too sure were mixed together in the right way. There is also a good bit of sweetness in this here beer.

22 oz bottle. Pours a hazy medium amber with a slightly off-white head. Aroma is yeasty, of cloves and bubble gum, a little caramel touch. Yeast in the flavor is a more restrained clove/bubble gum combination, with the citrusy and herbal dry-hopping coming through very much, and a bit of honey. Pretty nice, really.

22 oz bottle purchased at Missies in Shawnee, Kansas. Bottled in May 2011. Pour is a hazed golden orange copper with a two inch off white head that builds up with nice settling. Head falls loosely with patchy lacing. The aroma is immediately nice with soft earthy wheat, lemon citrus, clove spice, and the bright Rye. All aromas meld nicely together to form a clean and full aromatic nose. As the beer warms, turns more towards the Rye. The taste is clove yeast spice up front, sharp with some of the rye, turning towards the eathy wheat. Finishes with more clove, and a drying hint of alcohol. Alcohol more pronounced as we get to room temperature. Palate is medium to light bodied, nice unfiltered mouth feel and the dry yeasty finish. The clove and yeast elements are quite lasting in the after taste, along with the Rye. This was a fun and unique beer.

Location: Draft at RnH, 8/26/11

Aroma: Nose of Rye, pepper, pine, yeast, fruit, and some other spices
Appearance: Pours a clearish orange-brown with basically no head or lace
Flavor: This one has a solid hop profile, nice spice presence, and some rye as well
Palate: It is medium bodied, with soft carbonation, and a fairly smooth mouthfeel
Overall Impression: Overall, this was a fairly solid offering. I thought it worked fairly well, an interesting beer for sure.

Sampled on draft at the Rivertowne Pub this beer poured a medium brown color with a small beige head that faded quickly and left minimal lacing. The aroma was tart and sweetish with notes of toasted caramel and bourbon. the flavor was bitter with touches of tobacco, bourbon, faint caramel and vague fruits. The finish was very long and bitter with a harsh booziness that really did not work well at all. Underwhelming.

On tap at petrol station. Pours a clear deep amber with a white head that dissipates quickly and completely dissipates. Aroma has notes of sweet fruit and flora with a bit of backing rye and bread. Flavor starts with flora with a growing sweet fruit note and some spice, rye and bread in the finish.

Pours clear copper color with off white head. Fruity and doughy aroma with some toasted malts. Sweet fruity flavor with some spicy and peppery tastes from the rye. Floral and earthy hoppiness. Medium body with lively carbonation. A bit too sweet for my liking.

Funk and lightly roasted barley malt. Hazy dark copper, thin head. Tart currant, plum skins, and barley malt. Plum skins grow more intense afterward. Alcohol noticeable but not too detracting. Ok, and fairly well done. I don’t get these dark saisons.

Pours deep orange-tinged mahogany into a snifter. Off-white head recedes leaving spider lacing to coat surface. Sweet coriander, spicy rye, and resin aromas. Medium to thick bodied with sweet caramel, clove, coriander, rye and pepper upfront turning to slight resin in the medium length finish.